1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a motor vehicle with a position adjustable steering wheel and a position adjustable dashboard.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Studies directed to development of a new concept of working places of bus drivers, in particular, of city bus drivers show, see, e.g., an offprint from ATZ (1994), Heft 7/8, that from the medical and ergonomical point of view, the shape and the adjustment possibilities of a driver's seat alone is not sufficient to achieve an optimal posture of a motor vehicle driver. Rather, in order for a plurality of drivers to be in a position in which they can take a healthy and comfortable working posture, it is additionally necessary to provide possibilities for axial adjustment and for pivoting of the steering wheel and, in addition, to provide prerequisites for changing a position of the dashboard. At that, there exists a direct correlation between the angle of the steering wheel to a horizontal and the angle of the display plane of the dashboard to a horizontal. In other words, considering the position of the driver's eyes, for a relatively big driver, the steering wheel would occupy an elevated, only slightly inclined, position, and the instrumentation panel of the dashboard would be in a flat, slightly inclined position. Whereas for a relatively small driver, the steering wheel would occupy a lowered, more inclined position, and likewise the instrumentation panel of the dashboard would occupy a more upright position.
The realization of medical and ergonomical recommendations present significant technical problems, in particular with regard to the locking and adjustment of a relatively large, widely-spread mass of the dashboard and to its stabilization, i.e., with regard to its oscillation-free suspension. It is to be noted that with regard to the adjustment, the necessary forces should be relatively small particularly in buses, which often have a change of drivers with the possibility that the driver may be female. Additional difficulties consist in that the required ergonomical-technical optimization should be conducted in a technical area in which smallest possible costs and a series production capability, that is, good reproductability as well as inexpensive assembly, are required.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to so arrange a steering wheel and a dashboard in a motor vehicle so that the position of the steering wheel and the dashboard can easily be changed, that the self-oscillation with respect to the driver's cab is prevented, and that the costs of assembly of such arrangement in a motor vehicle are reduced to the most possible extent.